Believe it or not, our sweet-bundles-of-fur are probably saving us a bundle in medical bills.

This is another reason I’m into natural cat care—not only is it more ecological and vet-bill preventative, but our cats contribute so much to our well-being that we want to give them more life-extending love. Wait til you hear all this!

While cats in particular have healing powers, research on pet companionship in general is also impressive.

According to research discussed in this news report, people with pets save the Australian health service about $880 million per year and save Germany about $6.6 billion per year. The research found that people with pets:

need fewer visits to their doctor each year

have fewer sleeping difficulties

are less likely to need heart condition medicine

I was really excited about some research I found on cats in particular.

Cats may reduce heart attack risk by 40%

While a study showed that both cats and dogs reduced stress-related blood pressure more than ace inhibitor medication, a study at the University of Minnesota found that cats in particular may reduce your chances of a heart attack by 40%.

The study, which looked at 4,435 Americans aged 30 to 75, showed that those who did not have a cat had a 40% higher risk of having a heart attack and a 30% greater risk of dying from other heart diseases than those who have or have had a cat.

I was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia many years ago. That’s a crazy erratic, racing heartbeat that happens periodically in varying degrees of intensity and threat.

I did not have a cat at the time. A bit later I lived with cats again and a bit later I stopped having arrhythmia. Didn’t think much of it.

Fast forward many years to when my only cat, Bastet, was dying. I started having bouts of terrible heart arrhythmia symptoms. After she died it got worse–and by worse I mean nearly constant.

It stopped the day we brought home two new purring youngsters named Phil and Joel. The arrhythmia disappeared that day and hasn’t returned since. Were there other factors that may have affected my heart arrhythmia in these cases? Probably. But the timing of the healing was uncanny.

What’s at the root of a cat’s healing power?

There’s certainly some mystery as to exactly how cats and dogs manage to be good for our health. So far my investigation has uncovered these research nuggets about the healing power of kitty cats:

Minnie Mcg(cat)

Sheri Easley

October 13, 2012 at 4:19 pm (6 years ago)

I have back problems and when ever I am having major pain, to the point I am in tears, my cats like to lay on my back. This got me thinking and I started searching and found this site. Makes me wonder if there is REALLY something about cats and healing. I’m going to start paying more attention to our cats behaviour and when we are sick or in pain.

tammy

December 22, 2011 at 4:25 pm (7 years ago)

Stange and odd

There was a small kitten meowing outside my home. We don’t know where it came from but i know it was meant for me to have and I will tell you why. When this kitten saw me it instantly acted like it was devoted to me and acts strange towards me and has same actions as my deceast cat that I had for 22 yrs. Very strange behavior for a cat and a stranger. But that isn’t the strangest part. My menstral period quick coming 11 months ago and just days not weeks just days after this cat arrives my menstral period comes. I don’t know what to think? Is is coincidence or something else?

I have to agree with this — except the docs i work for will disagree because i have asthma and they insist the cats (and dogs) make it worse. Sorry, doc, give me another shot of kenalog and refill those inhalers, please! Small price to pay for all the other benefits of having animals in my life 🙂